In a country of colours

Strong voice

It’s easy to miss fairy-like soprano, Beatrice Weiss. She can easily walk into a room and merge into the crowd. However, once she begins to sing, there is no question of the audience looking away from the stage. Her powerful voice, high octaves and sweet tone  set her apart.

Just like every other foreigner, Beatrice Weiss too was taken aback by the burst of brightness, clamour in confusion and the method to the madness in the City.

The nimble-footed singer’s first visit to Bengaluru with the ‘Toccata Musical Productions’, UK, and the ‘Kenyan Boys Choir’ excited her, what with the different styles of architecture like the Victorian buildings and the heavy traffic.

“The driving styles here are different and quite interesting to observe but I haven’t seen any accidents so far. So people seem to know what they are doing. But the scene can get your blood racing!” she laughed.

And if there is something you can’t let go about India, it’s the food; she reminisced about relishing the ‘appam’ and ‘crispy masala dosa’. “In London, I have tasted Indian food but not of such variety. We get more North Indian food there.”

Here from the grey streets of London, she finds India a “country of colours.” “Everybody here looks fantastic. People are always dressed in loud hues. They look so smart and fantastic.”

One of the nine soloists of the production, she enthralled the audience with ‘Hallelujah’, a mo-town duet and some peppy pieces backed by the Western orchestra and the ‘Kenyan Boys Choir’. Beatrice loved the entire arrangement which consisted of some of her favourite pieces and a potpourri of different styles.

“I believe that fusion music is very engaging for the audience as there is always something for everybody. It has styles from different cultures coming in.”

Through her performance, she also showcased her solid grounding in Western classical and the fact that she has been singing classical pieces all her life. She was trained as an opera singer at The Royal Northern College of Music, London, where she studied music for four years. She has sung opera professionally in some of the cultural centres of Western classical music such as London, Italy, Belgium and Greece.

“Classical music is extremely popular in London. What I want to be able to do in India through my music is to just reach out to people and inspire them.”

And her adventure doesn’t stop here! She can’t wait to come back to the country next year for a longer duration and explore more of the City.